Measure of Viral Load by Using the Abbott Real-Time HIV-1 Assay on Dried Blood and Plasma Spot Specimens Collected in 2 Rural Dispensaries in Cameroon

• Published in: Journal of acquired immune deficiency syndromes (1999) Vol. 52; no. 1; pp. 9 - 16
• Main Authors: Mbida, André Dieudonné, Sosso, Samuel, Flori, Pierre, Saoudin, Henia, Lawrence, Philip, Monny-Lobé, Marcel, Oyono, Yves, Ndzi, Edward, Cappelli, Giulia, Lucht, Frédéric, Pozzetto, Bruno, Oukem-Boyer, Odile Ouwe Missi, Bourlet, Thomas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hagerstown, MD Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc 01-09-2009; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Ovid Technologies
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; AIDS/HIV; Biological and medical sciences; Blood; Blood Specimen Collection - methods; Cameroon; Clinics; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; HIV; HIV Infections - blood; HIV Infections - virology; HIV-1 - isolation & purification; Human immunodeficiency virus; Human immunodeficiency virus 1; Human viral diseases; Humans; Infectious diseases; Male; Medical sciences; Microbiology; Middle Aged; Miscellaneous; Plasma; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic - virology; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; RNA, Viral - blood; Sensitivity and Specificity; Viral diseases; Viral Load - methods; Virology; Young Adult; Cameroon; Africa; HIV-1; Microbiology; HIV-1 virus; Retroviridae; real-time PCR; Real time; Lentivirus; Blood; Blood plasma; Virus; Polymerase chain reaction; resource-limited settings; dried plasma spots; Human immunodeficiency virus; Viral load; dried blood spots
• ISSN: 1525-4135; 1944-7884
• DOI: 10.1097/QAI.0b013e3181aeccbc

BACKGROUND:This study aimed to evaluate the use of dried blood spots (DBSs) and dried plasma spots (DPSs) locally collected in 2 rural dispensaries in Cameroon for the quantification of HIV-1 RNA.
METHODS:Forty-one subjects were sampled and spots of whole blood and plasma were deposited onto Whatman 903 cards and dried at ambient temperature under local conditions. Two sets of DBS and DPS cards were done per patient. The rest of the liquid plasma (LP) was frozen until use. LPs were tested at the “Chantal Biya” International Reference Centre (Yaoundé, Cameroon) by the Abbott Real-Time HIV-1 assay (Abbott Molecular Diagnostics, Wiesbaden, Germany). One series of DBS and DPS was transported and tested between 2 and 6 weeks later at the Virology Laboratory of Saint-Etienne (France). The second series was routed by mail and tested after up to 3 months of storage at ambient temperature.
RESULTS:From the first series, the correlation rate between viral loads obtained from LP and DBS, and from LP and DPS, was 0.98 and 0.99, respectively; specificity of DBS and DPS results was 100%. The results obtained from the second series indicate a great stability of DBS after long-term storage.
CONCLUSION:This study demonstrates that DBSs collected under local conditions in resource-limited settings are suitable for the differed quantification of HIV-1 RNA.